Tuesday, January 4, 2011

All Sunny Days Aren't Happy

Who can explain the emotions of a woman?  Why does she laugh when nothing’s funny and cry when she’s happy?  Why do things make her sad that don’t faze a man?  

I had a dentist appointment today. The sun was shining. As a rule, I love sunshine and would be happy on a day such as this, but today there was something different going on.

As I drove through the little town where my dentist’s office is located, everything looked so drab. Only two weeks ago, there were holiday decorations everywhere and people hurrying around in a jolly mood preparing for the big occasion. Now there was no sign of them. Suddenly, it seemed as if we hadn’t just spent a month or more spreading love and good cheer to everyone we met – even strangers. This little town looked dingy and unexciting... even with the sun shining brightly. It was depressing.

When I walked into the dentist’s office, I heard no music; saw no friendly faces; and there were no cheerful, “How are yous?” In fact, everyone seemed a little preoccupied and not friendly at all. I felt let down and sad.  How can things change so fast? 

About an hour later, when I got home, my husband was taking down the Christmas tree, which didn't help my mood even though it's past time to put it away. We always leave it up until after New Year’s Day. I enjoy turning on the lights every night and day for as long as I can get away with it. We’re usually the last ones in the neighborhood to take our decorations down, but I noticed last night, Jan. 2nd, that our neighbors directly across the street were still enjoying the lights on their tree. I intended to leave mine off after New Year’s Day, but seeing theirs made me giggle as I turned them back on. I loved knowing someone else enjoyed them as much as I do!

But tonight I spent a long time wrapping “special” ornaments in tissue paper and boxing them up for another year. I sat on the sofa, tears filling my eyes as I wrapped each one separately. There was the plaster of Paris snowman that our daughter made in second grade, a little red and gold drum with our youngest son’s name scribbled on the bottom, a silver bell decorated with green and red flowers by another daughter while she was in school, little wooden rocking chairs given to us by a grandchild, two tiny ceremic angels - also a gift from grandchildren, and many others that have special meaning. These ornaments represent a lifetime of memories!

And so... a bright sunny day turned into a dreary, depressing one for me... all because of my unrealistic notion that the beauty and joyfulness of Christmas should last a lot longer than it does.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

your right peggy. the Christmas spirit disappears to fast. people talk about it being a time of love and the pouff! it's over.

sam said...

aww peg. Don't be sad. it'll be Christmas again before you know it. just think spring is almost here. sam

ben said...

Youre right about on thing. Noone can explain a woman's emotions. I wouldn't even try.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if people treated each other the same all year as they do at christmas, wouldn't it?